The present disclosure relates to commercial aircraft multi-class cabin arrangements and how they can be efficiently separated from each other. One method to achieve division of the seat groups is by providing a hard divider between rows of seats attached to the aircraft seat tracks and an upper support element such as an overhead storage bin assembly or passenger service unit (PSU) rail.
Head Injury Criteria (HIC) requirements are provided, for example, by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish standards in passenger protection in passenger aircraft cabin design. Certain HIC requirements are set forth in 14 CFR 23.562, which is incorporated herein by reference. The HIC requirements, for example, result in clearance requirements within a head impact zone to reduce likelihood of passenger concussion in the event of an emergency such as rapid deceleration. Further, the requirements specify a measurable HIC number resulting from, for example, a head impact against objects that are within the head impact zone of a passenger, such as a fore passenger seat or a partition. In this manner, should a passenger's head impact an object such as the forward backrest of the fore passenger seat, the force of the impact is absorbed at least in part through the backrest design.
Federal regulations also dictate certain standards for static load handling and dynamic load handling. 14 CFR 25.562 (incorporated herein by reference) provides that seats and restraint systems must be able to withstand a 16G dynamic load. 14 CFR 25.561 (incorporated herein by reference) provides that other aircraft structures such as bulkheads must be able to withstand a 9G forward static load. It is understood in the industry that if structures are spaced within one inch of one another, it must be demonstrated that the structures are capable of sharing loads during normal use and emergency landing conditions. Due to the complexity of the analysis, those skilled in the art of aircraft interior components generally avoid placing components within one inch of one another. For this reason, a minimum spacing of one inch has generally been maintained between bulkheads and seating systems (e.g. between a bulkhead and the aft surface of an aircraft seat).